BIOGRAPHY - Douglas Jacobson

Partner and Chair, International Trade Practice,  Strasburger & Price, LLP (As of January 9, 2006)

Doug is an accomplished international trade attorney whose expertise includes counseling clients on a wide-range of issues relating to import and export regulations and transactions.

Doug has extensive experience representing companies on a wide range of export issues and regularly counsels U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries on compliance with U.S. and multilateral regimes governing the export of  dual-use items, software, technology, defense articles and humanitarian products.  He assists companies in understanding and navigating the complex rules set forth in the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the various sanctions regulations administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.  In particular, Douglas Jacobson has developed a special expertise in obtaining export licenses for U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries that export medical devices, medicines and agricultural products to embargoed destinations.

The services that he provides to clients includes the design and implementation of Export Management Systems and compliance programs, obtaining commodity classifications, licenses and commodity jurisdictions for a variety of dual-use and space-qualified products.  He also represents companies involved in government investigations, voluntary disclosures and enforcement actions.  He also regularly monitors and reports to clients on significant legislative, regulatory and political developments involving export controls.

Doug regularly works with U.S. companies that employ foreign nationals to ensure compliance with the “deemed export” rule.  He also advises software developers regarding the issues associated with the export of software and other commercial products containing encryption algorithms.

Doug also counsels U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries regarding their obligations under the United States antiboycott regulations as they relate to sales to the Middle East.  He regularly assists companies in drafting and implementing antiboycott compliance programs, responding to boycott-related inquiries received from their customers and advising clients on their reporting obligations to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance and the Internal Revenue Service.

With respect to imports, Doug advises U.S. importers on the legal and regulatory aspects of importing goods into the United States.  He assists U.S. importers in performing internal customs audits and implementing and maintaining effective internal customs compliance programs.  He represents clients before U.S. Customs and Border Protection in focused assessment audits, penalty investigations and enforcement actions.  Doug advises companies regarding the U.S. regulations governing the classification and valuation of imported products and works with importers to ensure compliance with U.S. country-of-origin marking and labeling requirements.  He also works with companies regarding their supply chain security obligations under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Program (C-TPAT).  Doug has  represented companies in a large number of antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, including cases involving steel, chemicals, textiles and food products.

Doug counsels U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries on the obligations of their employees and agents in dealing with foreign officials under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and assists companies in drafting and implementing FCPA compliance programs.

Doug is the author of a number of articles on international trade topics and is the editor and publisher of International Trade Law News, a Web-based compilation of news and information on export controls, customs, antidumping and other international trade-related issues.  Doug is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Export Controls/Economic Sanctions and Customs Law Committees, the National Council on International Trade Development (where he serves as a member of the board of directors and general counsel), the Customs and International Trade Bar Association and the Society of International Affairs.  He also serves on the International Advisory Board of Sanctions Watch, a Web site devoted to national, regional and international sanctions policy and analysis.

Doug received a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin (1983), a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Washington University in St. Louis (1987), and a Juris Doctorate from the American University’s Washington College of Law (1990), where he was an editor of the American University Law Review.  He is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland Bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.